The responses to our recent shredder survey revealed some startling facts about everyday office life. From the hundreds of replies received, it seems nearly all of you have found confidential information lying around the office or simply thrown away unshredded.
In many ways, this is not surprising as a staggering 70% of you said your company issued no formal guidance on what to shred and that you simply "used your initiative". From which we can assume it is your less security-conscious colleagues who are carelessly throwing sensitive documents away.
It is essential that any business, large or small, has proper procedures to deal with all sensitive and/or confidential information. Some data needs to be retained for legal or tax purposes but it should be company policy to destroy all sensitive information as soon as it is no longer required. The quickest, safest, surest method is to shred all such material on site.
We also asked you what you liked least about shredding and what you would change about your current shredder if you could.
A heartfelt cry from many of you, and one that Rexel can resolve immediately. The Mercury Anti-Jam range is specifically designed to put an end to the problems of paper jamming. If you try to feed
too many sheets at once, the paper entry glows red to say 'stop'. Reduce the number of sheets and the paper entry glows green, signalling it's ok to go ahead. Check out the full range at www.rexelshredders.com.
Noise was a major issue for many of you. Most Rexel office shredders, including the Mercury range, come within the socially acceptable levels of 55-66Db. There's also an ultra quiet Whisper range for the home office.
Emptying the shredder was a particular gripe, especially when it's always left to you to do it! Here are some suggestions:
- Buy a confetti cut shredder, which is not only more secure but will need emptying far less often.
- Use shredder waste sacks. When full, simply pull the bag out of the bin and all the mess is contained. Clear bags also mean it's easy to check that all the contents have been shredded.
- Choose a shredder with an easy access, pull out bin.
- Buy a Mercury shredder that accepts recyclable waste sacks, so you can empty and recycle at the same time.
Nearly a third of you would like a bigger shredder that shreds more paper at a time. Most people shred far more than they originally anticipated and the shredder they bought is inadequate for their current needs. So think ahead and buy a high performance/high capacity shredder that can cope with extra use.
If you're shredding in serious quantities, consider the Rexel Auto +. This powerful machine automatically shreds up to 500 sheets at a time, and for complete security the documents are locked safely inside the machine while it shreds.
For more helpful advice on choosing and using a shredder, check out the daily tips now running on the DeskDemon Home Page. Or you can download them all in pdf format by clicking on this link.
Thank you to all DeskDemon readers who took the time to respond to our survey. The 5 lucky winners of our £50 Love2Shop vouchers will receive them shortly!
www.rexelshredders.com